Tag: domestic violence

Even the most diehard defender of all tings MMA will tell you that it’s become increasingly difficult to overlook the disturbing relationship (for lack of a better term) between those who compete in the sport professionally and domestic violence. It’s not that domestic violence isn’t a saddeningly regular occurrence across the board in professional sports, it’s that most sports don’t train their athletes to become trained killing machines in addition to hulking physical specimens, and as such, hearing of the atrocities that guys like Travis Browne, Anthony Johnson, and Thiago Silva have been linked to tends to perpetuate the stereotype about the sport and its fans tenfold.

So when it was announced that HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel would be airing a feature-length investigation into “domestic violence in MMA” centering around War Machine’s abuse of Christy Mack, our reaction here at Castle CagePotato went something like this…

Details on the upcoming special/more clips of BG throwing up are after the jump.

Seven weeks after Anthony Johnson was indefinitely suspended by the UFC following accusations of abuse and intimidation from the mother of two of his children, the UFC light-heavyweight contender has been cleared to compete again. The UFC broke the news earlier today in an announcement on UFC.com, explaining that the accuser had dropped her complaint. Here’s the full statement:

The person who filed a civil temporary protection order against UFC contender Anthony Johnson last September voluntarily dismissed their complaint last week in the Florida Circuit Court. Before granting a dismissal of the case, the presiding judge independently questioned the alleging party regarding their voluntary intentions, and thereafter the judge dismissed the entire matter.

The dismissal of the case, along with an independent investigation that was commissioned by the UFC organization, brings closure to this matter for Johnson and allows him to return to competition in the UFC. As a result, UFC officials are exploring options for Johnson’s next fight to take place early next year.

The UFC organization will not tolerate domestic violence, sexual assault or any other violation of its Code of Conduct. The organization is committed to thoroughly investigating all allegations and taking the appropriate action when warranted.

As we previously reported, UFC light-heavyweight Anthony Johnson is currently on an indefinite suspension, following allegations that he brutally assaulted the mother of two of his children at her place of employment in 2012, then talked her out of pressing charges; the victim claims she has been receiving threatening calls and text messages since then. This followed a separate incident in 2009, in which Johnson roughed up a different woman and eventually pleaded nolo contendere to a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence.

Unfortunately, Johnson’s history of abuse doesn’t end there. According to a police report first unearthed by MMAJunkie, another ex-girlfriend of the UFC fighter claimed that Johnson assaulted her at her place of employment. Via Junkie:

On March 19, the woman called police to get Johnson to leave her place of employment, Park’s Taekwondo. According to the probable cause affidavit, she did not give a full account of the incident until the next day, when a teacher from the taekwondo school called police to document a text message he said he received from Johnson. The woman told police then that Johnson had showed up unannounced at Park’s Taekwondo on 15 separate occasions in the three months she had worked there, even though their sexual relationship ended in 2012.

The woman said Johnson knew she was working alone March 19. She said he demanded to speak with her, grabbed her shirt behind the neck, lifted her up from the chair by her shirt and grabbed her right arm. She showed the investigator “bruising on her right forearm and a reddish scratch mark near her right collarbone.” She told police she asked Johnson to leave several times, but he did not until police arrived.

After Bloody Elbow posted the story, Johnson apologized on his Facebook page and absolved himself of guilt. He wrote the following:

I want to apologize to everybody for my language yesterday. It really sux being accused of something I didn’t do. So plz forgive my reaction to the whole situation. My day will come that I can prove I’m innocent. Thank you for the support! Without the fans and my close friends/family I wouldn’t be able to function. I love you all….

In case you didn’t read the account of Johnson’s alleged abuse on Bloody Elbow, here’s the rundown:

Watching Dana White’s recent appearance on “Fox Sports Live” paints a very clear picture: Dana White does not want you to compare him to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I can tell you this, I wouldn’t want to be Roger Goodell,” White says, after being asked about his reaction to the video of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out then-fiancee Janay Palmer. No surprises there, given that the NFL is in the middle of a domestic violence crisis built on the foundation of years of denial and reframing the issue. What is surprising is that he follows up his statement by resorting to the same strategies that the NFL employed to downplay Ray Rice’s assault in order to justify the UFC’s decision to resign Thiago Silva.

You don’t even have to wait for the parallels between how the UFC is choosing to handle Thiago Silva and how the NFL has attempted to cover up domestic violence to become apparent, they’re observable in the very first sentence White speaks once Silva’s name comes up:

“If you believe in the legal process, they came, they arrested him, and he wasn’t brought up on any charges.”

(Thaysa Silva) and victim #2 Pablo Popovitch were inside the center when she observed the defendant driving his vehicle, a 2012 Dodge Charger bearing FL TAG G7ARY. She could see the defendant pull up to the center because the entire store front is clear glass. The defendant then started honking the vehicle horn continuously. She then went outside to speak with him to avoid a confrontation since victim Silva and victim Popovitch are in a romantic relationship. The defendant is aware of this relationship and this fact contributed to his actions. She approached the defendant which was driving, and when she was approached the driver side, he rolled down the window. She immediately noticed that he had been drinking and extremely intoxicated. He then produced a black glock firearm and pointed it at the victim. He stated, You have ten seconds to bring Pablo outside and if he does not come out, I will go in the gym and start shooting everyone. It should be known there was a class in session with approximately 25 students inside. Victim Popovitch then exited the center to protect victim Silva from harm. He then approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and observed the defendant pointing the firearm above the door frame at the victim Silva. The defendant threatened to kill both victim Silva and victim Popivitch. Popovitch then ran back into the gym, locked the front door, and called 911. The defendant then drove away.

“But he was acquitted of all charges. How do you not let the guy fight again?

“He went through the legal process and came out of it untainted. He deserves to be able to make a living again. He’s back under contract.”

A) He was not acquitted of all charges. The charges have been dismissed with the announcement of a nolle prosequi, which is not an acquittal. Nolle prosequi is the decision not to prosecute those charges at that time. It doesn’t necessarily mean never, and it is possible to re-indict someone on the same charges.

But in a somewhat depressing development, Kaitlyn Grispi has now come out publicly to downplay the incident, and says she’ll take her husband back if he gets help. (Keep in mind that the August 4th incident occurred while Josh was out on bail for his previous assault and battery arrest on Friday; Kaitlyn chose not to renew an emergency restraining order because she “thought Joshua would be better.” He wasn’t.) From a new report on WickedLocal/TheEnterprise:

Despite the documented abuse and her reported and visible injuries, [Grispi] said Monday that she loves her husband, who is being held without bail at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility. The two have been talking by telephone nearly every day while he is in prison, she said.

“My husband’s a great father and my kids miss him so much,” said Kaitlyn, 25, a mother of two children, ages 1 and 3, as she broke down crying. “It’s hard. My son’s birthday is tomorrow. It’s just rough.”

Standing on the porch of her Middleboro home Monday afternoon, Kaitlyn Grispi said her situation has been blown out of proportion in police and media reports.

“It’s sad because they’re making it out to be way crazier than what it was,” she said…

- On Friday, Kaitlyn Grispi sent her mother Karen Fava a photo of herself with multiple bruises on her face and bleeding lips, taken after Josh had allegedly beaten her the day before. Fava showed the photo to the Middleboro Police Department, and officers visited the Grispis’ home that day to speak with Kaitlyn, who agreed to get an emergency restraining order against her husband and temporarily give custody of their two children to Fava.

- Grispi was then arrested for assault and battery, as well as multiple counts of improperly storing firearms near minors. “Inside the house police found handguns, rifles, an assault rifle and ammunition all belonging to Joshua. Most of the guns were unsecured and some were sitting in boxes inside their bedroom, police said. Next to their bed was a playpen with their 1-year-old daughter inside.”

- On Monday, Grispi posted $2,000 bail after his arraignment, and returned to his home. We’ll let WickedLocal take it from here:

Kaitlyn was supposed to extend the restraining order but didn’t do so because she “thought Joshua would be better,” court records show…

Things deteriorated quickly as Joshua began to yell at Kaitlyn about a pile of wood he had been looking for.

“Kaitlyn said she ran down the street and hid under a bush and Joshua found her. Joshua then began punching her in the head and forced her into the home,” court documents show. “Joshua got her inside the house and kept punching and kicking her over and over. Joshua was yelling at her, ‘You want me to (expletive) kill you?’”

Middleweight journeyman Kyacey “Ice Cold” Uscola has been convicted of domestic violence charges stemming from a brutal attack on the mother of his child on June 15th, 2013. According to Sacramento news outlet news10.net, a Sacramento Superior Court found the 32-year-old Uscola guilty of battery on a spouse or cohabitant, battery with serious bodily injury, and corporal injury on a cohabitant.

As news10.net reports, Sacramento D.A. spokesperson Shelly Orio said “the victim suffered a life-threatening laceration to her pancreas, eight broken ribs, a punctured lung, an orbital fracture and two lumbar fractures.” Uscola’s sentencing is scheduled for February 14th, and he faces the possibility of up to 13 years in prison.

The report describes Uscola as a “rising star in the MMA world,” which couldn’t be further from the truth. Perhaps best known for his unsuccessful stint on TUF 11 — during which he almost got his dick bitten off by a pitbull (long story) — Uscola has lost eight straight fights since November 2010. His professional record stands at 21-24, and he’s never won more than three fights in a row.

News10.net interviewed Sacramento’s own Urijah Faber, who tried to set Uscola on the right track several years ago, until a 2011 domestic violence incident derailed their working relationship:

Troubled ex-MMA fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller attended an arraignment hearing yesterday in Orange County, California, where he pled not guilty to two felony counts of corporal injury of spouse, or domestic abuse, stemming from a pair of recentarrests. A reporter from SciFighting.com was on the scene and passed along details from the hearing, which apparently didn’t go so well for Miller. Here are some highlights…

- “As Miller was brought into the defendant’s cage, he looked wildly around the nearly vacant room with eyes full of confusion. His defense attorney approached him, and Mayhem stressed to her ‘I need to get out tonight, it’s imperative.’ Immediately following the interaction, his hands were photographed to show where his girlfriend allegedly bit him and took off large pieces of his skin.”

- “Mayhem Miller’s alleged victim, known to the court as Ana Pricilla (but known to Mayhem as Anna Stable), says that during the second assault case she was urinated on and choked until she fell on the floor, where she was punched and kicked viciously. In defense, Mayhem’s attorney stated that the victim was asked to leave the house, and Jason’s father witnessed her attacking Jason.”

- “At this point in the hearing, Judge Manssourian scolded Mayhem because he was making faces and nodding his head in every direction. The fighter apologized, explaining he is ‘an expressive person’ and that he’s ‘an artist’. The judge dismissed his statements, and advised him he is best served to be silent and allow his attorney to speak on his behalf.”